Meet Kelly Knox: Top British Model Born Without A Forearm But Made it To Vogue & Marie Claire [VIDEO]
She is beautiful, drop dead gorgeous, is 5 feet 8 inches tall, has been featured in Vogue magazine, London Fashion shows and even appeared in Marie Claire magazine. When we look at her modelling portfolios, we stop and stare for another brief second to admire her guts. Meet Kelly Knox, Britain's top disabled model who has been born without a left forearm and refuses to hide it.
The 29-year-old Knox stands tall and confident in most of her photo shoots which grace top magazines like Vogue and Marie Claire. But the blonde beauty, who has been called "the most beautiful woman after Venus," says things did not start easy for her as she had tough times in her career even after winning modelling TV competition in the BBC programme "Britain's Missing Top Model."
"I feel I wasn't treated well at all - I was left in the gutter," said the stunning model to MailOnline. However, Kelly did not lose her patience and continued to believe in herself and her abilities. In fact, her patience and perseverance paid off when she did a fashion show with P&G.
"This year has been my most successful year to date," said Kelly to the website describing the moment when she walked the ramp for the first time with tears in her eyes.
"P&G Beauty made a video of me with my modelling images and text - part of the text read: "The most beautiful woman after Venus." I felt so emotional on the catwalk - I couldn't believe P&G Beauty were saying all these amazing things about me. My eyes actually welled up as I was walking down the huge rotating runway," said the blonde beauty.
Kelly says she receives thousands of emails daily from disabled people telling her how inspired they feel seeing her successful. She feels honoured to be a part of the project for modelling and wishes all magazines and brands see it as an example which would pave way to them hiring more disabled models.
Knox's' other works include an editorial shoot for Marie Claire China's April 2013 issue, where she wore Chanel and a Karl Lagerfeld dress. She also worked with Caryn Franklin of "All Walks Catwalk" where she modelled for none other than Debenhams.
Despite the success, Kelly feels that this is just the beginning of her modelling career and there is a long way to go. It's inspiring to see Kelly make her mark in the industry which thrives on beauty and finds ways and means to correct pictures of models with heavy editing to make them look "perfect."
Kelly, who refuses to wear a prosthetic arm to cover her disabled left forearm, says she is on a mission to change the mindset of people to look at models. She is also working with a charity organization REACH (Association for Children with Upper Limb Deficiency) to help disabled people.
"Disability is almost invisible in the fashion and beauty industries - it's very frustrating, but I believe in me and the message behind my work and I'm determined to make changes in the industry," says Kelly to the website. Kelly aims to let the modelling industry accept disabled people in the same way as they have in sports and other areas.
"Disability has been accepted in sport and TV but fashion has a long way to go," says Kelly. Let's hope Kelly succeeds in her efforts. Meanwhile watch Kelly Knox's interview below.
Source: youtube.com/Mik Scarlet